


Firebrand Returned

by LeeMorrigan



Series: Fire & Ice [2]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Thor (Movies), Thor - All Media Types
Genre: Brothers, F/M, Frost Giant and a Pyrokinetic, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Loki and Thor need hot chocolate and love, Loki and Thor need hugs, Original Characters - Freeform, Other, Sakaar, last of Asgard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-19
Updated: 2018-04-04
Packaged: 2019-03-06 17:23:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13416003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeeMorrigan/pseuds/LeeMorrigan
Summary: Loki's lost love, having waited the two weeks promised on Sakaar, strikes a deal to be returned to Loki's side. Loki and Thor are on the ship with the last of Asgard's residents, Heimdall, Valkyrie, Banner, and Thor's friends from Sakaar, trying to figure out their next steps as they head for Midgard.





	1. Firebrand Returned

**Author's Note:**

> A continuation of THE ONLY WARMTH HE EVER CRAVED.  
> I do not own Marvel (else Frigga would still be alive) or anything except the original characters/races/locations mentioned [Candor, Maeve, etc.]

Engines hummed below and lights above. The walls were cold and dark. This was not Asgard. Loki let out a breath. They were almost two weeks into their journey to Earth, with the expected arrival being some time next week, five days if they kept making good time.

From what he had figured, they had enough food to last another 9 days and it was going to take 5-7 for them to reach Midgard. They had one more stop to make, as per Heimdall, to pick up 11 Asgardians he had transported to a moon under the pretense of gathering special rocks for the All Father. Four of them were Asgard’s wisest healers and herbalists. This side trip was part of the reason they were planning to possibly take seven, rather than five, days to reach Thor’s second home.

Loki had done some figuring and he believed he could make the food last two extra days, if pressed. Between himself and one of Thor’s new friends from the arena, the water filtration and reclamation system was operational. At least they would not have to worry about drinking or bathing water for the trip.

As he headed to the room he was currently sharing with Thor, Loki’s mind drifted back to Sakaar. Maeve would likely be standing somewhere, tapping her toe impatiently, thinking how either today or tomorrow would see Loki’s return. And when she got off Sakaar, as he had no doubt she would, she would find only an asteroid belt where Asgard once stood.

Perhaps it would free her. She would think him dead and she could move on. Or she might chase him. Then again, thinking the other dead without tearing the universe apart for proof of it, is what had separated them so many centuries ago. He doubted she would be so easily convinced this time around.

Loki came to he and Thor’s shared chamber, opening to door to find Thor curled into a ball on one side of the bed. It seemed wrong, his brother looking so small and almost childlike. Especially with the eye patch. Thor had always been so large, so looming and lumbering, often sleeping sprawled out to take up as much room as his limbs allowed. He even sprawled when encamped on a mission.

Without disturbing his large, slumbering brother, Loki eased into his side of the bed. It was not a large bed, though big enough for he and Thor to not be scrunched together in order to fit. Usually, laying on their backs, their shoulders would barely touch as they slept. Since Ragnarok, Thor’s sleep had been fitful and on at least two nights he had left bruises on Loki from his thrashing and attempts to thrash some imaginary opponent. Loki had woken nearly every night, panting and wide-eyed.

~*~*~*~*~

Maeve was going to kill him. She had expected he was lying when he told her that he would not return to Asgard. Granted, she figured he was lying more to himself than her. She knew him well enough to know he would always save Thor. If they had not killed each by now, it would never happen.

It was that he did not even send word to her as to where she needed to go to meet him. That is what had gotten her so steamed. No matter. There were ways of getting off Sakaar, if you knew who to threaten, bribe, or beg. Making up her mind, Maeve packed a few essentials. She had her credits that she won two weeks ago, along with her freedom. They weren’t worth as much off-Sakaar as they were on, yet they were hardly worthless outside the Grand Master’s circus. Next, the only change of clothes she had, a few items she could sell or trade, and then a few bottles of expensive liquor. She needed a bribe.

It took her almost the whole day to find Candor. The woman was as wily as she was ancient. Everything was in chaos following the overthrow of the Grand Master, however it seemed another had quickly stepped in to take his place. One who was less of an airhead and more of a business man. Maeve suspected the new Grand Master might be worse for the people than the previous, however it soon would nolonger be her concern.

Candor, as expected, was sitting at a table to play an elaborate card game. Maeve barely recognized it, although she remembered seeing Loki and Frigga playing it. Although she was sure the stakes between mother and son had not been thousands of credits. Maeve waited, knowing if she disturbed Candor and caused the woman to lose, she would not help for any amount of wine.

Candor won quickly, smiling at the younger men she was playing with. The winnings were slid her way as she teased the younger men about coming to her any time they wished a friendly game, as they all clearly needed lessons in gambling and she was a wise old teacher to be had. She tossed the dealer a very hefty tip, then left the table to face Maeve.

“What do you need, Firebrand?”

“Transport.”

Candor grinned, showing off her stark white teeth against her wrinkled purple lips. Maeve had never quite worked up the nerve to ask Candor if she dyed her lips or if they were naturally that shade, considering the rest of her skin was a blueish shade of off-white and her eyes were as yellow as a burning sun.

“Come along. We’ll discuss my payment and where I’m meant to drop you.”

Maeve followed the older woman as they wormed their way through the throngs of people out enjoying a post-revolution night. Maeve just wished Candor would find a spot for their business, although she knew Candor required some privacy for her work. She couldn’t afford to have multiple people jumping in on her work.

It took nearly an hour for Candor to find a suitable place. It looked like a small hotel and the man behind the desk merely nodded at Candor when they came in and Candor lead the way to a back room, way down the far left hall. The room itself was modestly sized, with wild patterns in bold colours, and no bed. It had some rugs by an imitation fireplace with pillows clearly meant to help raise knees or shoulders, a scattering of comfy chairs with high backs, no windows, a very large lock on the door, and an ornately carved bench that Candor had flopped herself onto.

Maeve wondered if this room had been a brothel of sorts before Candor took it on as an office. It wouldn’t surprise her, for Sakaar or Candor, to have such a move for a room’s purpose. Either way, Maeve hesitated to sit on the cloth chair Candor invited her to.

Golden eyes fixed on Maeve and she fought the urge to squirm or fight. She needed this to go right and to go fast. There was no telling how long before the stars shifted again or someone tried to scoop her up for the arenas, putting a bounty on her head that even Candor wouldn’t think twice about claiming.

“Where do you need to go?”

“Beside an old friend.”

“Know where the friend is?”

“Not exactly.”

“Got something of his?”

Maeve reached into her shirt, pulling out a necklace. She had given it to Loki a day before he believed she died, and he had carried it with him every day since. All that time against Loki’s skin and in his direct possession, it had to work for tracking. Not to mention the sentimental value it had to them both.

“This is mine, but he carried it for centuries after I gave it to him. It binds us, so you can use that to track him. Then I need sent to his side.”

Candor nodded, taking the necklace to look at it more like she was judging how much the shining, silver item would fetch and less like she was hearing a woman ask to be reunited with her lover. Her off-white fingers held it, all 12 nails painting a fluorescent orange that clashed with her green and pink attire.

“I’ll need nine bottles of Desain.”

Maeve reached into her bag, retrieving two bottles. Desain was expensive wine, the color of Midgardian flamingos. The wine Maeve had brought was the color of Thor’s eyes. It was far more rare and expensive, and she had a third bottle tucked away, just in case. Candor’s eyes went wide.

“So rich a gift, how far is this lover for you to pay so handsomely?”

“He was supposed to go to Asgard, although I fear he may have been forced to travel from there in the past few days. He cannot be more than two weeks journey out from it.”

Candor nodded, closing her eyes with one hand holding the necklace. Maeve waited. She had used the services of Candor’s kind before, and she knew the procedure. Silence would be demanded now, if it were not already given.

When Candor’s eyes opened, they were white. She held out her free hand to Maeve, the rest of her body as still as the grave.

“The wine.”, she demanded.

Maeve slid one bottle into Candor’s hand and left the second sitting by Candor’s ankle. Candor handed Maeve back the necklace, which she quickly slid around her neck. She needed to keep the tracking object close to help Candor.

“Close your eyes, see his face, and take a deep breath.”

Maeve did as instructed, picturing Loki’s face so clearly that she swore she could almost touch it. Then she felt as if she were being hugged by a mist and then stretched so far that her bones were protesting worse than her muscles and tendons. She could not breathe, she could not open her eyes, she could not even feel her body any longer. This was the part she hated about a Transport. Teleporting, the Earthlings might call it. Similar to the Bifrost, though done by one person’s will and intent, rather than the channeled magic of Asgard.

When she could breathe again, she opened her eyes to find herself on the floor of a ship. Or space station maybe. It was cold and dark, the engine hummed beneath the solid floor and the lights hummed at a higher pitch in the ceiling. Maeve already hated it. Standing, she decided the only way to see if this had worked as to take a walk.

Moving along the corridors, she thought it a bit suspicious she had yet to encounter another soul. No lifeform she didn’t know the name or language of, no Asgardians, no Midgardians, no Elves, nothing. She was about to return to her initial position when she heard it. Footsteps. Booted footsteps.

She waited a beat and looked, as a man came around the corner. Not just any man. Tall, his leather and armor gleaming, his dark hair falling long over his shoulders, and his golden eyes locking with her green ones. Heimdall. Gatekeeper of Asgard, protector of the Royal Family, and friend to Thor.

He reached forward, clutching her hand in a warriors handshake. He still felt as though made of granite. Although he looked older and more weary than she could ever recall seeing him. Looking at him, she knew. Asgard had fallen.

“Heimdall.”, she breathed.

“Lady Maeve, you are a welcome sight.”

“Did Loki tell you all that I wasn’t dead? You don’t seem all that surprised to see me.”

He smiled.

“Thor mentioned you were alive, having heard it from Loki while he was double checking our provisions. I looked out after, to make sure you were alright. Sakaar is nearly beyond my sight from Asgard, it is further yet from our present location. I could barely make you out.”

She nodded.

“Where are they?”

Heimdall gestured down a hall as he spoke.

“Down that hall, follow the water line until you get to a corridor with five rooms off of it. The second on the left with be theirs. Mine is the one at the end. The other three are taken up with Thor’s Sakaarian friends.”

She nodded.

“Thank you, Heimdall. I am glad to see you again.”

He smiled warmly at her.

“It is good to see you again as well, Princess.”

She couldn’t help the small smile that came at hearing the pet name. It was something he only called her, from time to time and teasingly, following the small wedding in Frigga’s gardens. Walking past him, she did as he instructed, until she found the room he told her to look for. She was able to open the door easily, not needing any sort of key or code,

Inside she found one bed, decently sized and covered in rumpled blankets. There was a slim cot to the far right, with what appeared to be books and charts laid out over it, as well as some weapons. A small table sat before a mirror, with alcoholic beverages littered across it, in various attractive bottles.

Maeve was about to put her bag on the cot and go searching for Loki, when she heard someone coming down the corridor. She listened. The steps were quiet, even, and in a rhythm she would have known anywhere. Loki.

Hiding behind the three-panel screen that gave the toilet a hint of privacy in the left back corner of the room, Maeve waited.  She wanted to see how Loki really was before she spoke, or else she risked him putting on a mask. He opened the door, his shoulder stiff and eyes a million miles away as she could almost see calculations in his mind. Then when the door closed behind him, he looked as if he were Atlas.

“Loki.”, she gently called.

Turning, he saw her stepping out from behind the partition. He went rigid for a moment, then he sprang forward, almost launching himself through the air to wrap his arms around her, with Maeve also darting forward. The collided in the middle, nearly toppling over onto the floor.

“You’re alive!”

“You’re here!”

Loki moved to press his face into the crook of her neck and she swore she felt his whole body sag into her embrace. She didn’t mind. She would hold him forever, if he asked.

“How did you get here?”

“Short version- I know a teleporter who can be bribed, I had some goods to bribe her with, and Heimdall told me where your room was.”

He nodded, seeming to take that all in as a more cohesive account than most would. Then he kissed her, slowly and deeply, before resting his forehead against hers. He didn’t appear to have been injured, though he looked like he needed a week or two of sleep and a few hearty meals.

“What happened?”

Loki shook his head, moving away from her and tugging her hand as he turning towards the bed. She followed. Once he started to sit, she sat down next to him and waited. When he didn’t offer up anything, she decided to help.

“Asgard?”

“Gone.”

“Hela?”

“Burned by Ragnarok.”

“Thor?”

“Alive, although he lost an eye, making him resemble Odin more so than he ever wished to.”

“The people?”

Loki sagged further, if that were possible.

“Barely more than 500, plus the few Heimdall had sent on errands here and there in the days before he disappeared to try to save all he could from Hela.”

Loki turned to her, looking hollow and wrung out.

“It is all gone, Maeve. All of it. Mother’s gardens, the great library, the Bifrost, the All Father’s thronechair, all of it. All of it gone.”

Maeve let Loki fall into her arms, his body shaking. He was not crying, though she would hardly blame him if he did. His whole body trembled in her arms. She did not press him for more information. There would plenty of time tomorrow, or the day after. He needed rest more than she needed details.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Thor yawned, feeling the material of his new eyepatch dig into the corner of his eye socket. He was going to need more time to get accustomed to this new war wound. He could hardly believe he had lost the same eye as his father, and like his father was unable to have a healer or any sort of sorcerer return the sight of his lost eye.

Thankfully, Loki and Heimdall had been able to do something that increased his awareness of his peripheral in his remaining eye. It also seemed to help his depth perception, as he was nolonger misjudging distances. Briefly, as he had washed and dressed that morning, he wondered if he would still have so many Asgardians wishing to take ‘selfies’ with him when they got a look at him now.

He had nearly punched himself for thinking such a trivial and silly thing, when Asgard was in ruins spread out over less than 600 people, when counting Heimdall, Loki, himself, and those Heimdall had on Midgard and this strange moon they were detouring to. His father was dead, his hammer gone, his home destroyed, his people barely clinging on, his friends dead, and yet he was worrying about Midgardian selfies with ‘fangirls’ and if Jane would still think him attractive, or even wish to resume things when she found him being wiser and less torn between two worlds.

Opening the door to her and Loki’s shared room, he found an unexpected sight. Loki curled loosely in sleep rather than in a rigid line all tucked into place, and Maeve the Firebrand curled almost protectively behind Loki, her arm wrapped around his middle and nose between his shoulders. Thor almost wondered how she could breathe.

Loki had said, under his breath while calculating their rations out for the journey, that Maeve had been alive and was on Sakaar. Thor had pulled it out of him, owing in part to how tired Loki was, that Maeve was waiting for Loki’s return. Thor got the impression there had been a deadline for how long she intended to wait.

Thor smiled, glad to see at least one old friend who had survived the madness of the past few days. Her face was even more unexpected than Banner’s hand been. He also thought, as he moved to go lay on the cot on the right-hand side of the room, that she might make an excellent Avenger. Between Maeve and himself, they ought to be able to keep Loki on an even enough keel for him to possibly be an aid to the Avengers. According to what Heimdall had briefly glimpsed before all Ragnarok broke loose, the Avengers would need all the help they could get.

Once he was settled into the thin cot, Thor let out a long sigh. He had to be up in a few short hours, leading his people to a distant moon to pick up some of their last healers and wise men, before heading to Midgard. Hopefully Stark and the others would help him get his people settled.

~*~*~*~*~

He was so warm. Warm with a very slight weight pressed against his chest. Thor waved his arm off to his left, blinking open his eye, half-expecting to find Jane. She had been so tiny and so slim that she felt almost like a small child when she had slept against his chest. Instead, his hand met the cold wall and he realized someone had left a heavy blanket over him that had twisted a bit to have a tangled piece across his chest almost like a small arm.

Looking over, he found Loki to be in a similar position on the larger bed. Wrapped in another blanket, his arms stretched out for someone who was not there. At some point in the wee hours of the morning, Maeve must have left. Thor was about to wake Loki when there was a noise at the door to do it for him.

They both were on their feet, weapons in hand, ready for the fight. The door opened. Just before Thor could send the small war hammer flying, Maeve’s smiling face appeared, then dropped.

“Sorry. I uh…should’ve called out. Put the weapons down, boys. I come bearing breakfast, not war.”

Thor moved to sit back on the cot while Loki strode around so as Maeve placed the tray on the edge of the bed, he could wrap his arms around her. Thor was a bit surprised, as Loki had never been the most physically affectionate parson. Although, he supposed losing your father, your home, a sister you previously weren’t aware of, almost your brother, most of your people, and then regaining the love of your life over the course of a couple days, might make one act oddly.

“I thought you had left.”, Thor said.

“I was hungry, and I know you two could eat a giant out of house and home on a good day, and the last few days have not been good ones for the most part.”

Thor looked at the offerings on the tray. Two bowls of what looked like light orange oatmeal, a plate with some slices of heavily cooked meat almost to the level of jerky, and two mugs of what smelled suspiciously like Midgardian coffee. He had grown rather fond of the drink in his time with the Avengers. Stark, Banner, and Clint all but lived on it. The Captain was also a large consumer, though his was overly strong and black, unlike the fancier ones Stark liked and stocked the Tower with.

“Where did you find Midgardian coffee?”

He took a cup, able to smell the aroma of a good, dark roast. Steve would have been craving such a coffee.

“I found some pretty odd things, as I was walking around and then while I worked in the kitchen. Then again, this bucket is from Sakaar, so I wouldn’t be surprised to go to a sub-level and find a dragon heating the water for bathing.”

Loki shuddered around his bowl.

“No, please no dragons.”

Maeve’s smile was positively evil.

“What? You’re not still upset about that teeny ol’ dragon melting your knives, are you? That was 1,000 years ago!”

“Some of us do not share your immunities to a fire-breathing, man-eating dragon.”

She shrugged, moving towards the door again.

“Not my fault they only eat males. Alright, I’m off. Dig in and eat hardy.”

“Where are you off to?”, Thor asked around a mouthful of the odd-tasting, somewhat burned meat.

“To see Heimdall.”

With that, she was gone. Loki poked a fork at the meat, seeming far more dubious over the origin of the meal’s contents. Thor chuckled. Some things would never change.

“It tastes good enough, a bit overcooked and charred, but otherwise satisfying. Try it.”

Loki shook his head.

“Feel free to have it all. I will stick to this… orange meal.”

Thor shook his head with a small chuckle. There had been times when he and Volstagg would be quite amused by the way Loki, Hogan, and Maeve would eyeball strange and foreign foods. Sif would eat anything Thor and Volstagg ate, even if she did make them try it first. Falstaff was less picky, although there were times he opted for liquid courage before diving in with them.

“I have missed having her around, brother. I am glad she has returned.”

Loki nodded, although he seemed somewhat lost in his thoughts.

“What troubles you?”

“She was good where she was, now she’ll be just another alien refugee. And what will become of her on Midgard when they learn of her abilities?”

Thor considered before answering.

“The Avengers would gladly take her in.”

“So she may clean up the messes of Midgard, endangering herself to protect strangers.”

“Did we not do the same, for many years, under our father’s command? Did she not travel with us, fighting at our sides and beside our friends, without complaint?”

Loki’s shoulders sagged and then he sank backwards into the bed with a groan. Thor swore his brother had aged a century in the past few days. It was odd, seeing him once more being the responsible tactician.

“Midgard is not the same.”

Thor let out a breath.

“Nothing is the same.”

That earned another groan, though this one sounded like an affirmative, agreeing groan.

“Come, eat your orange meal, and then we shall be off to talk to Heimdall about those he sent to the moon of Erad, so then we may plot out the rest of our journey. We have much to do.”

Loki sat back up, eating only a few small bites of his breakfast before he got up, clearly restless.

“I am going for a walk. I’ll see you in a while to meet with Heimdall.”

Thor nodded, letting Loki walk out of the room without comment. They had barely spoken, aside from what they needed to talk about with planning their travel and figuring how much time they had food for. It was as if they had forgotten how. It would take time.


	2. Asgard Fallen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maeve learns the full extent of the losses on Asgard, Loki unburdens himself of his guilt, and friends are mourned. Ends on an upbeat note.

Loki and Thor had concluded their meeting with Heimdall over two hours ago, leaving Loki with plenty of time to wander around. He did not wish to be among the throng of survivors, all looking at him so strangely. All he ever wanted was to be Thor’s equal, to be seen as a worthy son of Odin. Having people look at him like a savior was disquieting. It made him feel as though his Aesir-like façade had been removed and replaced with one to make him look like Thor. A poor copy.

He was also avoiding Thor as well. They had too much to say and Loki was not ready. The wordsmith, unready to face a conversation. Folstaff would have taken great joy in such a circumstance. Loki let out a long breath. He knew the loss of the Warriors Three had hurt Thor. Soon, he would need to pull it together and help his brother. After all, they were each all the other had now. Thor did not even have the comfort of his little, sassy mortal.

Soon enough, Loki found himself outside the quarters he and Thor had been sharing these past two weeks in space. This was normal enough. There were very few places he could walk without being disturbed by the Asgardian survivors. Unexpected, however, was the muffled sound of crying. He could tell it was not Thor.

Opening the door, Loki found the source of the sound and his heart clenched. Maeve. She was sitting on the end of the bed, ankles propped on the railing the supported the bed, knees pressed to her chest, arms holding her knees, head down, tears flowing. Her hair was a wreck and her whole body seemed to shake. Loki crouched in front of her, reaching to take a gentle hold of her elbows.

“My darling, who has hurt you?”

She looked up at him in surprise, her dark eyes now rimmed with pink and red from the crying. The skin about them puffy and raw. An old bruise still colored her right temple.

“No one has harmed me.”

“Then what grieves you so?”

“I asked Heimdall to,”, she was interrupted by a hiccup. “please fill me in on everything from the time you and Thor left to retrieve Odin, till I showed up here yesterday. You didn’t tell me that Volstagg was Hela’s first victim.”

Loki rocked back on his heels, letting out a long breath. In all the rush, chaos, and calculations, he had lost track. He had forgotten that Maeve would not know who had survived and who had perished. Chief among those she would worry about, after the royal family, would be Heimdall and Volstagg.

Years ago, when she and Volstagg had met, they had become instant friends. Maeve was fairly irresistible, especially when she put her mind to it. And Volstagg was a great bear of a man who never wanted for a friend. The two were thick as thieves, enjoying a night spent regaling each other with the tallest of tales. When camped out during some adventure with Thor, Loki would often sit beside Maeve as she listened to one of Volstagg’s heavily embellished stories, occasionally adding something Volstagg had forgotten. Such as Hogan’s saving Volstagg before Volstagg slayed a beast, or how Thor had been holding the beast still for Volstagg to be able to behead it.

“Just tell me it was quick?”

“He fell before he realized who she was or why she had come to Asgard. Still, he died protecting his home. Valhalla received him with full goblets and rowdy cheers.”

She nodded, wiping at her face with the back of a sleeve. Loki moved forward again, using the pads of his thumbs to gently swipe the tears away. He hated himself for neglecting to fill her in. He had just been so glad she was alive and in the room with him, he had totally forgotten that there would be others she would care about the fates of.

“And his wife? The children?”

“Hilda and the children are well. Heimdall had foreseen the birth of Hilda’s latest niece and told her to take the children with her, to play with their cousins. They were all safely away when…’

She nodded, letting out a releaved breath.

“Of that I am glad. At least he did not have to worry for them, nor must we mourn them.”

“I am so, so sorry, Maeve.”

She gave him a tired smile. Loki opened his arms, letting her fall against his chest. One hand rubbed gently up and down her spine, careful of her cracked ribs. The other held her side, letting her take whatever comfort his cold, rigid form might offer her.

“It isn’t your fault, Loki.”

He let his hands drop from her, moving his body away somewhat, his eyes downcast. He could not look her in the eyes and tell her. Not this.

“Loki?”

“It is my fault. All of this.”

He felt her hands as they reached, one to his shoulder, the other to guide his face up so she could look him in the eyes. She was searching, trying to find his meaning.

“I caused it all.”

“You may have put the helmet in the fire, Loki, but you were under orders from the King of Asgard. It was the only way to defeat Hela.”

“No, not that. Hela is my fault.”

“I don’t understand.”

“When Father died, when she appeared, I called out for Skurge to bring us back to Asgard. I didn’t think about anything else, but the safety Asgard provided. I thought only of saving my own skin, not of what Odin said. Of how she drew her strength from Asgard and that once she returned to it, there would be no stopping her.”

“She destroyed Thor’s hammer as though it were a plaything made of feeble materials. A weapon you knew, in all previous battles, to be nearly unbeatable. Yet she shattered it with a touch. You knew that you and Thor were out of your depth and had to get out of there. How were you to know she would jump in with you? Or that this Skurge wouldn’t direct her away, at Heimdall would have done?”

“I’m the one who declared Heimdall a traitor, I’m the one who stationed the first idiot who wouldn’t question my orders, at Heimdall’s post. And I am the one who brought Hela to Asgard.”

“I am not saying you are blameless, however I cannot think anyone could place the blame squarely and solely on your shoulders. No matter how broad or how much you may disagree. Heimdall should not have agreed with Odin and hidden so much.”

She shoved his shoulder, bringing his attention back to her eyes. Eyes that always found his and were like his polar opposite, drawing him in. He could not look away.

“Odin should have left instructions for you and Thor, in the event of his death. He should not have hidden Hela from you, he should not have re-written Asgard’s history to keep you all ignorant, he shouldn’t have sworn the few who knew to secrecy. He brought this down on you and Thor, then left you to fend for yourselves, with his parting gift being a moment spent trying to remind the two of you that you were brothers.”

She cupped Loki’s face in her warm hands, her voice strong, if scratchy.

“This wasn’t your fault. You didn’t know what a force she was or how intimately she was familiar with the Bifrost, Asgard’s defenses, and even Heimdall’s sight.”

Loki let himself fall backward, his shoulders hitting the wall behind him as Maeve’s hands slid to cover his thighs. He let out a stuttering breath. He had not yet cried or allowed himself to mourn at all. It seemed silly to mourn for some lost trinkets and favorite spaces, when others had lost their families, their homes, their husbands and wives, even their very identities.

“Stop it.”

He snapped out of his dark thoughts, focusing back on Maeve. He hadn’t stopped looking at her, he had just retreated into his own mind.

“What?”

“Berating yourself, tearing yourself apart inside that giant head of yours.”

“Are you sure you’re not an empath?”

She gave him a wry grin.

“Nope, just know you better than you know yourself, sometimes.”

She moved forward, her hand tangling in his hair as she searched his face for something. So, so many years ago, his hair had barely been long enough for her to fiddle with. Not that she didn’t try. Then he noticed her grimace.

“What?”

“You’ve been neglecting yourself. Your hair is sticky and,”, she leaned forward to give a small sniff, wrinkling her nose. “you smell.”

“I’ve been busy.”

“Yes, taking care of everyone and beating yourself up while avoiding talking to Thor. Come on. Let’s get you a bath.”

“I’ve been avoiding a bath, too much time to think.”

She tugged his arm as she stood up.

“Come on. Make it quick and I’ll sit on the counter and tell you great stories of the men I fought and squashed in the arena. I promise, I won’t bore you.”

He smiled.

“You never could.”

“Darn right. Come on, husband.”

“I thought I was supposed to be comforting you?”, he asked, genuinely worried she was avoiding her own pain. Her eyes darkened for a flash, then she perked up a fraction and smiled tiredly.

“I like taking care of you. Indulge me.”

He held out his hands, a look of mischief rising on his face.

“Carry me?”

A finger pointed at him, her eyes narrowing playfully.

“Don’t push it.”

Loki let her tug him to his feet and tow him to the tiny bathroom, that was really a toilet like seat and a small tub with a semi-transparent metal curtain pretending to offer privacy from the rest of the bedroom. Tomorrow, they could figure out what to do in Midgard. For now, in this moment, Loki would allow himself to be out of time and reality, to just enjoy a simple pleasure he never thought to have again. His beloved Maeve, alone in the bedroom with him, shuttered away from the universe outside their door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally posting the second half. Might still add a little more to this series before INFINITY WAR comes to cinemas. For those who read the first half, thank you for reading and thank you for patiently waiting for me to get around to posting part two. I swear, weather and life conspired to slow me down.


End file.
